The Importance of Consistency

From Bedlam to Brilliance – Scheduling Time to Organize

I recently returned home from one of the most amazing trips I have ever taken. I was fortunate enough to spend over 2 weeks in Kenya and Tanzania in Africa. Whenever I travel, I try to figure out what I’ve learned and how I can apply it to the world of organizing. I know that must sound strange to those of you who find organizing a chore, but as an organizer, it makes perfect sense to me, LOL!

There were 2 components about scheduling time that I figured out. One was the actual scheduling, and the other was the actual time of day.

It was very important for the 16 of us on this particular tour to know what time we were headed out – whether it was for a safari drive in the morning or afternoon or whether it was to do something cultural. None of us wanted to be late as it would have held up the entire group, and that would have been embarrassing. So, believe it or not, for the entire 2 + weeks, everyone showed up on time.

In the world of scheduling a session to organize, I want to show up on time, and I want my clients to be ready. This way we’ll be able to start and get the most out of an organizing session. If we’ve scheduled time in the morning, wouldn’t you want to have eaten breakfast before I get to your home? Why waste time eating when we could be de-cluttering and organizing?

The other side of this equation is the scheduling of the exact time. All 16 of us were very respectful of each other, whether or not our morning events were game drives scheduled for 6:00 AM or 6:30 AM or cultural events at 7:00 AM or 7:30 AM. Our afternoon events were scheduled at different times too. Our guide was so patient with us as every day was a different start time in the mornings and afternoons. We all had to make a conscious effort to remember the start times of all our events.

When planning time with my clients, I like to schedule the same day and the same time if that’s possible. It makes it much easier to remember when the session is going to start and when it is going to end. Not that it is the worst thing in the world to schedule different days and times, however, it can make it much easier to remember if you don’t have to think about the day and/or start and end times.

We all schedule time to do certain things – go to the doctor, go to the gym, go to the movies, etc. Carving out time on your calendar to organize is also something that could be scheduled (with or without an organizer). During that time, whether it’s for 15 minutes, a half-hour, an hour, or 3 hours (set a timer if that would help), you’ll get something accomplished and will feel good about getting something done.